Please more prayers and Where to look up attorney powers in estate matters?

I'm sorry to keep asking but we really need prayer again.

I've already posted requesting prayers for the home, offer, etc. God blessed, the sellers accepted our offer and things are going smoothly on that end. I Praise God for that. Now we've hit a glitch dealing with the estate attorney's office of all things.

The estate attorney hasn't done any actual work on my FIL's estate. Instead his wife, who is out of office virtually every single week and who is NOT an attorney of any sort, has done the filing for probate and then wasn't even available for the probate hearing.

My FIL put his house in a trust (avoids probate, judges etc.) and it has been sold with the funds deposited into a trust account, minus a little over 2000 dollars beyond closing costs which I can only assume is her (husband's) fee for sticking her fingers into the sale of the home.

Originally my sister in law, who is the first administrator of the trust, said that this woman would be back from her latest vacation this coming Thursday and then the funds could be divided among the 3 sisters. We put in an offer with a closing date of 31 Oct or earlier based on this (mis)information. Now the woman is trying to say the funds can be dispensed no earlier than mid November.

The estate tax HAVE to be filed by 19 Nov at the very latest or penalties, etc. take place.

MY understanding of Ohio law is that the attorney has nothing to do with the trust outside of council IF the adminstrator requests it and the administrator is not obligated to follow the attorney's recommendations. I also understand that it's not required the funds be held until estate taxes are filed. My wife and I had recommended to pay the estate tax out of the trust before dispensing the funds which the sister in law seems to be following now that the attorney's wife has suggested it, but now the attorney's wife has interjected herself into the handling of the trust and seems to be trying to drag out the settling of the trust until the absolute last day for estate tax filing.

Needless to say, my family and I are tired of being without a permanent home. We are supposed to leave this camp ground on Tuesday. It's already getting so cold that my sleeping bag isn't working to keep the chill off. There's not enough room for everyone in the camper so I am pretty much forced to sleep outside so the wife and children can have warmth during the night. No one wants to rent us a home without a contract that obligates us to 6 months to a year. We asked the sellers if we could rent that home (it's vacant) until closing, the husband was willing to but after discussing it with his wife said that they couldn't because of "insurance issues".

We were hoping to close this week or next but need the estimated funds from the sale of the home. Everything I've read on the internet tells me that essentially the trust administrator can dispense funds from the trust whenever the funds are available. They've been available for quite some time now and they've had an estimated figure for the estate tax.

My understanding on the estate tax is that you go to a cpa just like you would for your income tax and file the estate tax through them but the attorney's wife seems to be telling my sister in law differently, almost as if she just enjoys controlling the entire process even when she has no legal authority.

Our next option is for me to take a 10,000 loan out on my car and then dip into our living expense money and then HOPE that the attorney's wife doesn't find some way to continue dragging this out beyond November, and then repay the loan once we have the funds available.

I was hoping to avoid this as it would put us way to tight and would put us at the mercy of an attorney's wife who seems bent on dragging this out far longer than it has to. She's failed to file papers several times which would have allowed the probate to be settled back by July at the latest had she done her husband's job properly.

It's estimated that we'll receive about 22,000 from the sale of the home. We'll still have to use some of our living expense money but not nearly as much as we will have to if they continue to drag this out.

I'm planning to try to call an attorney in Youngstown tomorrow to find out if there's any thing we can do to force them to file the estate tax now instead of waiting on this woman to find time between her vacations to do something my sister in law should be having a cpa do.

My wife is 2nd administrator but I can't see that we have grounds yet for her to step in.

Please pray for God's direction in our lives on this and an intervention on the house situation. I don't want to have to take out a loan and be at the mercy of the Attorney's wife and my sister in law for funds that will have to go back into our living expenses to see us through mid year next year.

If anyone knows of any information we can use to prod the attorney's wife to get her into gear I'd greatly appreciate the direction.

Glen F

Phew it doesn't end, does it.
I'll send another one up for you.
Good luck.

FUD,

<disclaimer: The following is what I would do if I were in your situation. It is opinion only>

Whenever I have an issue with someone in the "professional" community, I start by contacting the oversight agencies.

I would check with the following:

1. The Probate Court (talk to the Clerks and give them the situation in bullet points)
2. (via your wife, unless you are mentioned by name in the will) The attorney involved in your FIL's estate - why is he not doing the work? What is the delay? Demand hard, concrete reasons, not wishy-washy "we'll get to it" or "we're so over loaded". If they are so busy, why is the wife on vacation? Why was she to busy to show up for probate court? Demand a copy of all billed hours against the trust's account.
3. The Ohio Bar Association - ask them about the standards, rules, etc. for processing an estate. Is there a requirement for a "timely" filing and disbursement? Ask if what the wife is doing is appropriate....esp. if she is not an attorney. (the husband could be "hiring" her as a paralegal.)
4. The Office of the Clerk (or Recorder) where estate taxes are paid - get policy/law from them in writing, proving you do not have to wait until the taxes are paid to disburse funds.

5. I would also have your Mrs. talk to her sister....is there something the attorney, the tax office, the courts are waiting on? I think you do have grounds for your wife to step in and force the filing...waiting serves no useful purpose.

6. I would gather the info showing that there is no need to wait and then advise the attorney that the taxes will be paid on X date and the funds dispersed on Y date or you will file a complaint with the Administrative Judge who oversees the Probate Court and the local and national bar associations.

Who is the executor? There are obligations on an executor...does Ohio law require that the estate be settled in a timely manner? Dilly-dallying around and going on vacation hardly seems to be in keeping with that.

It sounds very fishy....

It sounds like the attorney has lost sight of the fact that he/his wife are working for the trust and inheritors of the estate, not the other way around.

With lawyer, doctors, CPAs, and the like, I always establish up front who is in charge. They are advisers and I can go to any internet connection to validate their recommendations. There is no shortage of any of them, so there is always someone up the street.

Don't give up....

Prayers continue.....

Greg


:tu

My prayers are yours! Best of luck!

Viktor

Best of luck Glen. Still pullin' for ya!

Don't forget to talk to your pastor about this he probably knows an attorney in your congregation that might be willing to give you some verbal advice so you can check up on whats going on without any costs. A fellow congregation member did this for me when I was going through my bankruptcy it made me feel much better didn't cost a thing and gained me a friend.

Great advice!

And best of luck!
Ivo

I have no advice, but just as before, I really hope everything works out on this deal. I wish you and your family all the best, and good luck.

I drove up to Ohio On Monday to take care of several things. My hope was to find an attorney to give the initial free consultation but all I got was "I can help you with this but we'll have to schedule another appointment". Not much in the way of actually explaining things.

Unfortunately with all this living in campgrounds and moving around we haven't had a consistent church. All the churches we've visited during our travels waited to see if we joined the congregation before getting involved. When we couldn't find a home by ourselves they'd tell us to be encouraged for God loves us or some similar variant.

I've found that God's people exists not so much in an organized congregation as in day to day interaction. We'll still find a church in this new area but I've learned quite a lot. I've gotten more support and encouragement from friends online and from unorthodox avenues than from our old church back in Ohio or any of the places we've attended while travelling. My prayer is that I take this knowledge and become a good support to others who go through hardships. I may not always be able to do much but I never want to miss being able to do what I can ever again.

The attorney's wife hasn't returned our calls. My guess is that if she even does she'll wait until she's back from this latest vacation and only call if she gets time before her next trip which is probably Sunday or Monday I'd guess based on past experience with her ;).

The one sister wants to get another attorney and make this attorney pay the new one's fees but that would take years of court battle. My wife just wants to get this over with so everyone can move on with their lives.

It looks like taking out a loan and then paying it back when the funds come in is probably the most peaceful alternative. It will cost us money in interest but it will resolve our problems. The only hiccup now is getting a fast closing date. The realtors have been so busy they didn't ask the real estate attorney Monday if it could be closed this Friday. They asked this morning after I followed up on it and now next Wednesday is currently the earliest it can be done. We talked the camp ground owner into keeping the facilities turned on until Friday. Now I'm going to see what he thinks about keeping them on Til Wednesday. I was hoping not to have to stay too much longer. This is the "hunting lodge" during this time of year where he typically rents to hunters only with reduced services. Since the hunters are all running dogs to flush out bear I'd like to be out of here before one comes running through the camp :o.

Thank you all again for your prayer. This is where exercises in patience pays off ;).

Glen F

Hey I hope everything works out well.
I really don't understand why your church doesn't help you.

I understand that they don't want to help out financially (you no longer live there) and I can sort of understand why the church of this new place is hesitant to help you financially. (again, you are new and might just be some sort of con artist for all they know)

But there are so many ways they could have helped out. your new congregation must have lawyers or other people who could help. Even when push comes to shove, the pastor himself could have a word with the people involved.
Their current response is more akin to 'try asking God because we can't be arsed to do something for you'.

I think there is something in the bible about this. something with a samaritan helping a complete stranger who happens to be not of his people...